Kentucky · All industries · Annual, 2025

Employment in Kentucky

Name: Employment in Kentucky
Creator: Data Tactical Group
License: https://datatactical.group/legal/terms

Employment, establishments and average pay across all industries in Kentucky, 2004–2025, from DTG's QCEW-based estimates.

In 2025, employers in Kentucky had about 1,988,500 people on their payrolls across roughly 160,922 establishments, with average annual pay of $62,570.

Total employment in Kentucky grew 10.9% from 2020 to 2025. Employment reached its 2004–2025 peak in 2025, at about 1,988,500. Quarterly values, full industry and occupation detail and projections to 2036 for Kentucky are included with a free account. County-level detail is part of every paid plan, or one county free for seven days.

1,988,500Employment, 2025
160,922Establishments
$62,570Avg. annual pay

Employment, 2004 to 2025

Annual average · all industries · all ownerships

Employment by sector, 2025

NAICS sector · 20 sectors

Code	Sector	Employment	Share of Kentucky	LQ	Source
11	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	9,308	0.5%	0.59	pub.
21	Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction	6,906	0.4%	0.95	pub.
23	Construction	92,934	4.7%	0.86	pub.
31-33	Manufacturing	252,077	12.7%	1.56	pub.
22	Utilities	12,611	0.6%	1.13	pub.
42	Wholesale Trade	81,609	4.1%	1.06	pub.
44-45	Retail Trade	210,353	10.6%	1.07	est. · 1.00
48-49	Transportation and Warehousing	135,166	6.8%	1.39	pub.
51	Information	23,384	1.2%	0.61	pub.
52	Finance and Insurance	72,757	3.7%	0.90	est. · 1.00
53	Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	23,994	1.2%	0.77	est. · 0.99
54	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	89,453	4.5%	0.64	est. · 1.00
55	Management of Companies and Enterprises	21,907	1.1%	0.66	pub.
56	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	115,605	5.8%	0.99	est. · 1.00
61	Educational Services	164,332	8.3%	0.97	pub.
62	Health Care and Social Assistance	320,437	16.1%	1.00	pub.
71	Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	30,184	1.5%	0.78	pub.
72	Accommodation and Food Services	178,943	9.0%	0.98	pub.
81	Other Services (except Public Administration)	49,116	2.5%	0.82	est. · 1.00
92	Public Administration	95,654	4.8%	0.95	pub.

† Not disclosed in QCEW; DTG estimate.

One public page per sector and per 3-digit subsector, annual, with the mark on every value. A sector name is a link where its page is built.

Last ten years

Annual · all industries · 10 years

Year	Employment	Estab.	Avg. annual pay	Change	Source
2025	1,988,548	160,922	$62,567	0.0%	pub.
2024	1,988,347	158,455	$60,431	1.0%	pub.
2023	1,967,892	152,145	$58,204	2.5%	pub.
2022	1,920,456	142,835	$55,802	3.4%	pub.
2021	1,857,636	134,031	$52,862	3.6%	pub.
2020	1,792,596	127,482	$50,794	5.5%	pub.
2019	1,897,896	122,908	$47,723	0.7%	pub.
2018	1,884,653	122,313	$46,302	0.5%	pub.
2017	1,874,455	121,431	$45,166	0.7%	pub.
2016	1,861,063	123,555	$44,099	1.4%	pub.

Employment by occupation group, 2025

SOC major group · 22 groups

Code	Occupation group	Employment	Share of Kentucky	LQ
11-0000	Management occupations	119,959	6.0%	0.86
13-0000	Business and financial operations occupations	91,460	4.6%	0.69
15-0000	Computer and mathematical occupations	37,980	1.9%	0.57
17-0000	Architecture and engineering occupations	28,400	1.4%	0.85
19-0000	Life, physical, and social science occupations	14,129	0.7%	0.76
21-0000	Community and social service occupations	33,903	1.7%	1.00
23-0000	Legal occupations	10,756	0.5%	0.65
25-0000	Educational instruction and library occupations	107,196	5.4%	0.92
27-0000	Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations	18,096	0.9%	0.68
29-0000	Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	143,985	7.2%	1.15
31-0000	Healthcare support occupations	81,818	4.1%	0.81
33-0000	Protective service occupations	42,740	2.1%	0.89
35-0000	Food preparation and serving related occupations	174,984	8.8%	1.00
37-0000	Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	53,777	2.7%	0.92
39-0000	Personal care and service occupations	35,685	1.8%	0.86
41-0000	Sales and related occupations	165,717	8.3%	0.97
43-0000	Office and administrative support occupations	249,915	12.6%	1.07
45-0000	Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	2,455	0.1%	0.44
47-0000	Construction and extraction occupations	74,057	3.7%	0.90
49-0000	Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	91,025	4.6%	1.17
51-0000	Production occupations	183,220	9.2%	1.66
53-0000	Transportation and material moving occupations	227,292	11.4%	1.29

Occupation values are DTG estimates built on OEWS and DTG's industry data. They carry no published or estimated mark and no reliability score, because there is no published occupation census to mark them against.

Where these numbers come from

What this page shows

Every industry sector in the state, and every occupation group, with annual employment for the most recent complete year in the current vintage, and the state’s own total over every actual year. Figures are for all ownerships combined and are not seasonally adjusted. County figures, quarterly figures and the full industry and occupation depth are in the app; the nation and every state are free there.

Reading the table

A state value is DTG’s value for the state: the value the Bureau of Labor Statistics published where QCEW disclosed it, and DTG’s estimate where QCEW withheld it. It is not a sum of the state’s counties. Where a value was withheld in QCEW it is marked as estimated rather than left blank, with its reliability score, and the legend beneath the table names the marker. Every figure on the page comes from one named vintage, stated beside the page, and does not change until the next release.

Estimated by Data Tactical Group from BLS QCEW, with CES/SAE and projection inputs described in the methodology. Method: Disclosure, Industry, Occupation.

Notes

Data Tactical Group is an independent company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any federal agency.

Every industry in Kentucky, quarterly, at full depth

This page shows Kentucky annually, by sector. A free account shows Kentucky and every other state at full industry and occupation depth, quarterly, with projections to ten years. No card.

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